Gluten-free Top 8 Allergen-free Granola Bars

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I wanted to come up with an easy, homemade granola bar that would be safe for kids that are not only gluten-free, but also avoiding any of the top allergens. My kids have always loved Quaker chewy granola bars, so I wanted to make a chewy gluten-free granola bar, versus a crunchy one. (I’ll do a crunchy one another time!)

Through my ongoing partnership with Enjoy Life Foods, I asked them to send me some packages of their Mountain Mambo Seed & Fruit Mix to use in these granola bars, because I just knew they’d be a perfect mix-in! I was right!

The Mountain Mambo Seed & Fruit Mix is a favorite snack of mine. It has sunflower kernels, pumpkin seeds, raisins, dried cranberries, dried apples and mini chocolate chips. It’s certified gluten-free, nut-free, and free of the top 8 most common allergens, which is hard to find in a snack mix! My family loved how these added some flavor and crunch to the granola bars.

I tweaked two recipes I found online, these best dang granola bars from my friend Heather (which are easily gluten-free with her specifications), and these granola rounds.

I wanted this recipe to not only be gluten-free, but also top 8 allergen free and even free of regular white/brown sugar. I opted to use pure maple syrup and raw honey for the sweeteners in these bars, and they worked perfectly.

To add a little crunch, and remind me of the store-bought granola bars my kids have always loved, I included some crispy rice cereal in these. There are a number of gluten-free versions of rice cereal out there, as well as varieties that avoid other allergens as well. The crisp rice cereal I always use is this one.

I incorporated these chewy gluten-free granola bars into an allergy-friendly lunchbox. There are lots of options of foods you could include, but I opted for carrots, fresh cherry tomatoes from our garden, and slices of McIntosh apples that we just picked up from the apple orchard. So yummy! My oldest enjoyed this for lunch today and I’m going to make this for my lunch tomorrow!

Notes on ingredients for these allergy-friendly granola bars:

• You can buy the Mountain Mambo Seed & Fruit mix in a larger 6 oz. bag or in cute little Grab & Go snack size pouches. Two of my local stores sell these in their gluten-free section, so hopefully you can find them near you also. If you can’t find them locally, you can order the single serving bags online from Amazon, which gets you 24 little bags – plenty for making batches of granola bars and also for stocking up your snack bin! If using a larger bag of Mountain Mambo, use about 3 oz. of mix, which is half of the bag.
• Make sure to use a gluten-free crispy rice cereal. Kellogg’s no longer makes one, and most store brands are not gluten-free either, as they contain malt. There are several brands that do make a gluten-free crispy rice cereal, and some brands avoid many of the other allergens, so choose the one that fits with your allergies best. If you cannot locate one, you can simply use either more of the gluten-free oats, or another plain gluten-free cereal of equal amount. I use the Nature’s Path Crispy Rice Cereal which I find at my local Natural Grocers store.
• Be sure to use certified gluten-free oats. Many brands are labeling their oats gluten-free now, but not all of them are certified! I used GF Harvest gluten-free rolled oats.
• If you have want to bump up the chocolate even more, feel free to mix in an additional 1/2 cup of Enjoy Life Foods mini chocolate chips!
• Pure maple syrup is REAL maple syrup, not the cheap pancake syrup. It’s the best! Costco carries a good one, and I like this Vermont maple syrup that I buy from Amazon. 

If you’re looking for more recipes that are top 8 allergen free, I’ve got several to recommend. If you’re wanting something savory, check out my gluten-free pizza waffles that are free of the top 8 allergens too! On the sweet side, these easy top 8 allergen free cinnamon rolls look soooooo good and I love that they’re so easy! For a sweet snack, you can’t go wrong with these gluten-free apple nachos!

Gluten-free Granola Bars Recipe:

This sponsored post was created through my partnership with Enjoy Life Foods. As always, all opinions are my own. Collaborating with brands I love allows me to keep bringing you new and varied recipes! Thanks for your support!

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